barksdale



March 3, 1964 s. BARKSDALE 3,123,301

RAILROAD TRACK GUARD RAIL CLAMP Filed June 19, 1961 IN VEN TOR.

LEON S. BARKSDALE ATTORNEY United States Patent Fla.

This invention relates to railroad guard rails, and more particularly to improvements in clamping means for securing guard rails alongside main track rails to prevent longitudinal and lateral movements of the guard rails relative to the main rails.

Short sections of track rail, referred to as guard rails, are often secured in closely spaced relation to the main rail of the track opposite the rail leading into a crossover frog or other track intersection so as to cooperate with car wheel flanges to properly guide the wheel trucks through the crossover. Much difficulty has been experienced heretofore in maintaining the guard rail at its proper location because the car wheels traveling along the rails rub and drag on the guard rail and tend to drive this rail longitudinally of the main rail and out of alignment with the crossover. This displacement requires constant close inspection and relocation of these rails, which is expensive, and frequently train derailments result from undetected shifting of the guard rails.

End sections of the guard rail are usually turned or curved at a small angle away from the main rail to provide a narrowing entrance for wheel flanges passing between the guard and main rail from either direction and it is a primary object of this invention to provide improved guard rail clamping means which cooperate with the angularly disposed end sections of the guard rails and the adjacent main rails to resist longitudinal displacement of the guard rail and which functions to increase its clamping force to the main rail as the guard rail tends to move longitudinally in either direction.

In the practice of the invention there is provided at each end section of the guard rail a wedge member comprising a tapered plate portion which overlies and conforms to the bottom flanges of the main and guard rails and the edges engage the webs of the main rail and the web of the angularly disposed end section of the guard rail, the wedge member having a wedge shape stem portion depending from the plate portion so as to extend below the flanges of the rails and engage the confronting edges of the bottom flanges of the rails to form spacers at the curved sections of the guard rails. The stem portion has an aperture to receive a draw bolt having hook-like bracket means at either end engaging the rail flanges and drawing the rails into binding engagement with the wedge member. The tapers of the wedge members at opposite end sections of the guard rail are directed toward one another so as to cooperate with the rails engaged thereby to increase the binding effect of one or the other of the wedge members with the rails upon the tendency of the guard rail to move in either longitudinal direction.

The invention may be further said to reside in the foregoing constructions and arrangement of parts as well as others which will become apparent from the following detailed description of a presently preferred embodiment of the invention taken together with the accompanying sheet of drawings forming a part of this specification, and in which:

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of a guard rail secured to a main rail of a railroad track by clamping means embodying the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view taken substantially along line 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a wedge member forming part of the clamping means of this invention; and

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary plan view schematically illustrating the distribution of forces in the clamping means.

In the form of the invention illustrated in the drawings there are provided first and second guard rail clamping means indicated generally at 10 and 11 which serve to secure a guard rail 12 to a straight main rail 13 such as would form part of a railroad track opposite a conventional crossover frog, not shown. Main rail 13 is fixed to spaced railroad ties 14 by spikes 15 extending through plates 16 and into the ties in the usual manner. Guard rail 12 has a straight central portion 18 extending parallel to and spaced from main rail 13, and bent or angularly disposed end sections 19 and 20 which provide a narrowing entryway for the flange of a railroad wheel, not shown, traveling along rail 13 in either direction. Guard rail 12 serves to act as a guide for car wheel flanges to maintain the direction of travel of the wheels along rail 13 as the wheel truck passes through a crossover frog or other intersection, as is well known in the art to which the invention pertains. A conventional spacing means, generally indicated at 21 and later described more fully, is disposed between the straight guard rail portion 18 and main rail 13 to maintain accurate spacing between the guard and main rails.

Clamping means 10 and 11, embodying this invention, cooperate with the angularly disposed end sections 19 and 20 of guard rail 12 to prevent the same from being displaced by creeping longitudinally along track rail 13 under the dragging influence of a multitude of wheel passages. Clamp means 10 and 11 are substantially identical with the exception that clamping means 10 may be referred to as a left hand clamp while clamping means 11 may be referred to as right hand clamp. Accordingly, only clamping means 10 will be described hereafter in detail, and it will be understood that the description and manner of operation thereof applies equally well to clamping means 11.

Referring now to FIGS. 2 and 3, clamping means 10 comprises a wedge member 25 which is T-shaped in section and includes a horizontally extending, tapered plate portion 26 and a depending stem portion 27. Plate portion 26 is wedge shaped in plan view having a straight side 26a in engagement with the vertical web portion 13a of main rail 13, and a slanting side 26b engaging the vertical web 12a of end section 19 of guard rail 12. Stem portion 27 extends downwardly between the inwardly directed portions of flanges 12b and 13b of rails 12 and 13 respectively, and is wedge shaped or tapered so that the planes of its vertical sides, as viewed in FIGS. 2 and 3, are parallel to edges 26a and 26b of plate portion 26. These sides of the stem portion lie against the edges of flanges 12b and 13b, and preferably, the undersides of plate portion 26 are curved to correspond and match the upper surfaces of flanges 12b and 13b, as seen in FIG. 2. Wedge member 25 is tightly secured in position against rails 12 and 13 just described by clamping means comprising a through bolt 30 extending beneath and transversely of the rails and through an opening 27a formed through stem portion 27. The end portions of bolt 50 extend through openings through brackets 31 and 32 which have grooves 31a and 32a contoured to receive the outer flanges of bottom flanges 12b and 13b, as shown in FIG. 2. Bolt 30 has a head 30a at one end engaging the outer face of bracket 31 and a nut 30b is threaded on the other end of the bolt and engages the outer face of bracket 32 to tightly draw the brackets to the rail flanges and maintain the rails firmly to wedge member 25.

Spacer member 21, which is conventional in the use of guard rails, comprises a pair of adjustable, cooperating spacer blocks 21a between the webs of rails 12 and '13 and a bracket member 21b engaging the outer flange portions of the rails and cooperating with a wedge 210 to hold the rails 12 and 13 in spaced relation as determined by blocks 21a. It will be recognized that spacer means 21 maintains the rails in a predetermined spaced relation but olfers-little resistance to longitudinal movement of guard rail 12.

Clamping means 10 and 11, because of the geometry of the wedge'mernbers 25, provide a component of force acting to prevent longitudinal movement of guard rail 1 with respect tomain rail 13, with clamping means 14? having greatest effectiveness for resisting movement from right to left as viewed in the drawings and clamping means 11 having greatest effectiveness to resist movement from left to right. This action is illustrated in FIG. 4, and it will be seen that a force tending to move guard rail 12- longitudinally to the left, represented by vector b, may be resolved into component vectors and d, with the latter acting against wedge member 2 in a direction normal to'edge 2612 by reason of the slant of wedge member edge 26b in contact with rail 12. It will be recognized that the force represented by vector d may also be represented by vector d acting through wedge member edge 26a against the web 13a of the main rail. Vector d may in turn be resolved into component vectors e and f, of which the latter represents the force by which the clamping action of clamping means is increased with respect to rail 13 upon application offorce (vector b) longitudinally of guard rail 12 such as by the drag of passing wheels.

Of course, the same analysis may be made, in invers respect, to the action of clamping means ill when the guard rail 12' tends'to move to the right.

While the above analysis of the operation of the clamping means represents my present interpretation of the forces involved, it will be understood that the improved results which I have observed in actual practice of the invention have been achieved by the above described constructions and arrangements of parts and a complete clamping means of this invention is simple of construction and is adaptable to use with rails of slightly dilfering sizes such as are encountered throughout the country and result from different sources of manufacture.

Although the invention has been described with detailed reference to specific guard rails and clamping means therefor, it will be understood that the invention is not limited thereto, but rather the invention includes all those modifications, adaptations and uses as are embraced by the scope of the claims hereof.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. In a guard rail and main rail combination of the character described wherein said rails have webs and flanges and the guard rail has an end section angularly disposed with respect to the main rail, guard rail clamping means comprising a wedge member disposed between said main rail and said end portion, said wedge member including a tapered plate portion and a depending tapered stern portion, said plate portion overlying the flanges of said rails and having one edge in engagement with the web of said main rail and a second edge in complementary engagement with the web of said guard rail, said stem portion having an aperture and-extending between said flanges and in engagement therewith, and draw bolt and bracket means for drawing said rails toward one another into said engagement with said edges, said draw bolt extending below said rails and through said aperture.

2. In a guard rail and main rail combination wherein said rails have webs and flanges and the guard rail has opposite end sections angularly disposed with respect to the remainder thereof and to the main rail, guard rail clamping means securing each of said end sections to said main rail, each clamping means comprising a wedge member having a tapered plate portion and a depending tapered stem portion, said plate portions overlying the flanges of said rails and having one edge in engagement with the web of said main rail and a second edge in complementary engagement with the web of an end section of said guard rail, said stern portion of each clamping 'means having an aperture and extending between said flanges and in engagement therewith, and draw bolt means for drawing said rails toward one another into said engagement with said edges, a draw bolt extending below said rails and through the aperture in said stem portion.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 859,598 Novack Apr. 16, 1907 1,654,885 Iones Ian. 3, 1928 2,599,599 Alters June 10, 1952 

1. IN A GUARD RAIL AND MAIN RAIL COMBINATION OF THE CHARACTER DESCRIBED WHEREIN SAID RAILS HAVE WEBS AND FLANGES AND THE GUARD RAIL HAS AN END SECTION ANGULARLY DISPOSED WITH RESPECT TO THE MAIN RAIL, GUARD RAIL CLAMPING MEANS COMPRISING A WEDGE MEMBER DISPOSED BETWEEN SAID MAIN RAIL AND SAID END PORTION, SAID WEDGE MEMBER INCLUDING A TAPERED PLATE PORTION AND A DEPENDING TAPERED STEM PORTION, SAID PLATE PORTION OVERLYING THE FLANGES OF SAID RAILS AND HAVING ONE EDGE IN ENGAGEMENT WITH THE WEB OF SAID MAIN RAIL AND A SECOND EDGE IN COMPLEMENTARY ENGAGEMENT WITH THE WEB OF SAID GUARD RAIL, SAID STEM PORTION HAVING AN APERTURE AND EXTENDING BETWEEN SAID FLANGES AND IN ENGAGEMENT THEREWITH, AND DRAW BOLT AND BRACKET MEANS FOR DRAWING SAID RAILS, TOWARD ONE ANOTHER INTO SAID ENGAGEMENT WITH SAID EDGES, SAID DRAW BOLT EXTENDING BELOW SAID RAILS AND THROUGH SAID APERTURE. 